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Suzhou

Suzhou was named Wu in the ancient times. First built in 514B.C., the city has a rich history of 2,500 years. The old city has generally retained the unique characteristics of the past. We can see its double-chessboard layout in which "the streets and rivers go side by side, while the water and land routes run in parallel"; We can also see its "3 longitudinal. 3 horizontal and one ring like" river course; its small bridges over slowly flowing waters: its "red brick walls with black tiled roofs" and its "historical interests and well-known gardens". Historically this is a remarkable place rich in outstanding talents and natural resources. The city is praised as "the earthly heaven" for its fully developed traditional culture and its scenic gardens.

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Transportation

The City's Accessibility
Suzhou, located in the economically developed area of the Yangtze Delta, has convenient transportation. Suzhou is only 86km away from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. With the high-class airport expressway special highway, it takes only 70minutes from Suzhou to Hongqiao Airport. Most of the overseas tourists to Suzhou come and leave the area from Hongqiao Airport. It has become the main port for people to fly to and from between Suzhou and other domestic and foreign cities. Besides, the Guangfu Airport in the western suburb of Suzhou has opened scheduled flights to Beijing and Foshan. Suzhou Railway Station is a national first-grade station recognized by the National Railway Department. It can hold 1500 passengers at a time. There is also a high-class VIP Waiting Room. The station handles nearly 95 trains and receives over 40,000 passengers everyday. The network of highways between Suzhou and nearby cities is developed, including the Hu-ning Expressway, No.312 State Highway, No.318 State Highway, Su-yu Highway, Su-hang Highway, etc. Su-jia-hang Expressway is now under construction and will be completed before October 1,2000. Suzhou also retains the unique inland river shipping route-Suzhou-Hangzhou passenger liner. It sets sail at dusk everyday and arrives in the morning. It goes along the Grand Canal and enables the passengers to see the ancient bridges, ancient towns, ancient ferries and ancient towing tie paths and to appreciate the life of families on water and Jiangnan idyllic scenery before it gets dark. There are about 6 to 8 liners sailing everyday, taking about 1000 passengers.

Airports
22 kilometers southwest to the Suzhou City proper, Suzhou Guangfu Airport was opened in February, 1994 with 2 scheduled flights: one from Suzhou to Beijing and the other from Suzhou to Foshan. The airport can handle 24,000 passengers and 150 tons of cargo every year and has a 2,100-square-meter waiting hall that can receive 400 passengers. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport is only 86kilometers away from Suzhou. The Su-Hu Airport Expressway which has cost 389.5 billion yuan has now been completed, and the time taken from Suzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport has been lessened from the original 3 hours to the 1.15 hours now, which brings great convenience to the Suzhou outside tourists.

The Railway Station
Located in the northern part of the city proper, the Suzhou Railway Station is a first-class railway station. It has 9,430,000 passengers per year and 40,000 per day. Everyday, it has 92 passenger trains coming to and from here with one train every 15 minutes. The waiting hall covers an area of 2,268 square meters, and can hold up to 1,500 people. It also has a VIP room, which can hold 600 people. The special tour trains relying on the Suzhou Railway Station are :
No.203 and No.204 from Wuxi to Hangzhou,
No.215 and No.216 from Shanghai to Nanjing,
No.217 and No.218 from Shanghai to Huangshan,
No.17 and No.18 from Suzhou to Nanchang
And No.15, a special-class train from Suzhou to Ningbo.
Meanwhile, the Suzhou Railway Station also provides special tour trains. Any tour party with over 400 members can apply for such a train.

River, Lake and Sea Piers
The Passenger Station of the Suzhou Steamer Company covers an area of 3,000 square meters. The waiting hall can hold more than 1,500 passengers, and has complete facilities. The passenger pier square covers an area of 1,000 square meters. Along the bank can berth over 20 boats and ships. The Suzhou Steamer Company is mainly responsible for the water traffic between Suzhou and Hangzhou and provides parts to regular buses.

Expressway
There are Suzhou Newly Developed Area Exit and Industrial Area Exit in the Suzhou section of the Hu-Ning Expressway.

Urban Traffic
Taxi :
Presently, Suzhou City boasts 2,003 taxis, and 356 large and middle-sized tour taxis. 336 taxis from Wu County also come to the city to provide service. In view of the dimensions of the city, there are now enough tour vehicles to meet the needs of the tourists from home and abroad.

Public Traffic
Major buses/trolley buses (Fro Reference Only)

Traffic To and From the City's Main Scenic Spots
Suzhou City's special sightseeing buses can be divided into 2 types: the city proper special routes from Suzhou Railway Station to all the garden spots, and the ancient towns' special routes. The latter has 2 routes: one is from Suzhou South-gate Bus Station to and from Tongli, with one bus per hour; the other is from the Northern Bus Station to and from Zhouzhuang. In addition, there is a Suzhou Amusement Park Special Route and buses on water from the Railway Station to Tiger Hill and Panmen, which forms a big feature of Suzhou, the water city.
Suzhou Public Traffic Company now has set up 7 lines of special sightseeing buses: (Fro Reference Only)
No.5 from Tiger Hill to the zoo,
No.6 from the Rock Road to Xiyuan, Liuyuan, and Fengqiao,
No.15 to Shangfang Hill,
No.16 to Lingyan Hill,
No.20 to Eastern Hill,
No.30 to Suzhou Amusement Park on the Water, and
No.38 to Suzhou Amusement Park

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Shopping and Food

Guanqian Tour and Shopping Street
A famous poet once said, "I would always dream of Suzhou for 3 living times", which fully shows the charm of Suzhou. Since long, long time ago, Suzhou has been a prosperous place in Jiangnan area, with notable reputations as a "Country Flowing with Honey and Milk" and a "Home of Silk". Guanqian region is located in the center of the Ancient Town of Suzhou, occupying an area of 0.52 square kilometers. Within the area, the commerce is flourishing. There is a great congregation of famous shops and historical relics. In the modern city construction layout of Suzhou-"Gardens in the east, stores in the west and the ancient town in the center. It is like one body with two wings". Guanqian Region plays an irreplaceable leading role. Guanqian Street got its name from the fact that it lies in front of Xuanmiao Guan (temple). Its formation has already had a history of more than 150 years up to this day. It is famous for being the gathering place of many outstanding and unique shops boasting of a 100-year-long history, such as Daoxiang Village, Qiantaixiang, Caizhizhai and Huangtianyuan, etc. The Food Street, located in Green Phoenix Mill-Eunuch Lane, is appraised throughout Jiangnan area for its unique Su-style food. Xuanmiao Gao, a place with rich cultural relics under national key protection, attracts tourists from home and abroad with its deep implications of Taoism culture.
Shopping Centers of Goods with Distinguishing Features
In Suzhou, the natural environment is superb, resources are rich, economy is developed. Industries of silk, textile, arts and crafts, light industry and food processing are its traditional industries, which play an important role in the country. Besides, Suzhou people have fairly advanced cultural consumption concepts. All these fine bases make Suzhou's commodity market increasingly specialized. In Suzhou, there are Suzhou Food Shop solely selling foods all over the country, Hengfu Yinlou with perfect craftsmanship and a combination of processing and retail, Queen Silk City solely selling silk materials, clothing and silk products, Antique Market engaged in transactions of ancient coins, collections and antiques, Suzhou Culture Market solely selling books, calligraphy and paintings, audio and video products and the four treasures of the study, the old national drugstore of Leiyunshang Songfentang with a complete collection of Chinese medicine, and bicycle shops, science and technology streets, etc. In one word, Suzhou's specially featured shops have characteristics of great varieties, detailed classification, large scale and strong professionalism, which facilitates tourist's shopping and goods selection very much.

A General Survey of Suzhou Featured Shops

Fengqiao Commerce Street
Fengqiao Street and Hanshan Temple are cultural tourist commerce streets with strong local characteristics in Fengqiao Scenery Resort Area. Ming-Qing buildings there have primitive and simple style and features. The forest of shops assembly exhibit almost all of Jiangnan art and craft products, such as silk, Su Embroidery, calligraphy and paintings, four treasures in the study, pad auk cuttings, and sandalwood fans, etc. In addition, there are all kinds of antique shops, pearl shops, teakettle shops and calligraphers and painters' art galleries for them to sell their own works. You can also appreciate "Long-brush Calligraphy" performances recorded in Shanghai Guinness Book of Record. The beautiful things are too many for your eyes to take them all in. Fengqiao Commerce Street has a history as long as Hanshan Temple and Feng Bridge. Described as Tang poem "Night-anchoring at Feng Bridge", famous writers in the past and at present one after another came here for a stay to seek historic interests and nature beauties and Fengqiao Ancient Town gradually prospered. Today, with the development of tourist industry, the pink-wall and black-tile buildings, signboards in ancient style and art and craft products with Wu Culture characteristics, altogether form a humanistic scene with rich inner meanings, which is worthy for you to wander unhurriedly and appreciate in details.
South-gate Commerce Area
South-gate Commerce Area is located on the northern and southern side of Renmin Bridge which is on the south end of Suzhou Ancient Town. It is just here that the passenger-boat dock of the famous "Paradise Water Traveling Line" from Suzhou to Hangzhou lies. And there are nearly 200 runs of long-distance buses start off from the Southern Long-distance Bus Station every day. There are nearly 15,000 people getting in and out of Suzhou from here every day, and the South-gate area has become the southern gate of Suzhou. Commerce in South-gate area is very prosperous. There are nearly 10 large-scale shopping centers, such as Taihua Shopping Center, South-gate Commerce Building and Dalefu Super-market, etc., nearly 100 specialized shopping centers and department stores of different kinds. Also, there are fairly large aquatic product markets, vegetable and fruit wholesale markets, tea markets and electronic markets here. In addition, there are nearly 20 culture and entertainment places and special-flavored restaurants of various kinds. It is the busiest downtown in southern Suzhou, with convenient transportation, multitude of shopping centers and prosperity of human atmosphere.
Suzhou People's Shopping Center
Suzhou People's Shopping Center Co. Ltd. is located in the Commercial Culture Zone in the busiest Guanqian Small Park in Suzhou downtown. It is a comprehensive large-scale retail enterprise with the longest business time; the broadest range of goods on sale, standardized operation management and 2 other advantages in Suzhou area.
The construction area of the company is 35,000 square meters, and the business area is 25,000 square meters. The company is engaged in selling famous and fine goods of over 80,000 kinds. It sets up under it 17 business departments and Huaqiao Goods Supply Co., Wholesale Co., Advertisement Co., Food and Entertainment Center, Business Center, Maintenance Center, Parking Lot, etc., combining shopping, foods, leisure and entertainment into one and will meet different requirements of consumers. The company is a unit of China Commerce Joint Council, a member unit of China Economy Joint Council. Since 1991, it has been continuously selected as Top-100 Enterprise by Domestic Trade Ministry, and has won names of "National Commerce Advanced Enterprise", "Model Shop for National 100-City and 10,000-Shop No-forged-goods Activity" and "National Creditable Shop", etc. It has also continued to hold the title of Province and City Civilization Unit till today. Chairman of the board Liu Chengpei, General Manager Xie Huaiqing, together with all employees of the company warmly welcome the presence of guests and friends from all over the world.
Transportation Conditions : Suzhou People's Shopping Center Co. Ltd. is located at the busy central downtown, and the transportation is convenient. No.1,101,102,2,3,301,4,5,8,9,16,20,38 Buses of The City's Public Transportation Company all have set up stations around it.
Suzhou Art and Craft Product Shopping Center
Suzhou Art and Craft Product Shopping Center, located Chayuanchang Mouth on Guanqian Street in the central downtown of Suzhou is a large-scale comprehensive State-owned retail enterprise, subordinate to Suzhou Hardware Group Company. Total operation area of the Center is 20,000m2, selling 120,000 specifications and types of more than 30 categories of products, and combining shopping, leisure, culture, entertainment and dining into one. In recent years, Suzhou Art and Craft Product Shopping Center has constantly regulated operation structure, developed market, imported new products and practiced famous-brand strategy, on the basis of sticking to original operation characteristics, expanding operation advantages of famous, special, fine and new goods, setting the market targets on middle and high level consumer group and the service concept of relying on service to start-up market. Meanwhile, focusing on economic benefit, it has actively expand new business domain, pursued new economic increasing points, enlarged operation capacity of the enterprise. In addition t original operation domain of clothing, rood, small and large electric appliances, audio and video equipment, knitwear, shoes, caps, leather articles, electrical materials, children articles, clocks, watches, cameras, general merchandise, hardware, chemical products, dining, it has made further expansions in operation domain and entered into projects beyond traditional operation modules and patterns, such as automobile, art gallery, cultural relics, antiques, auction, foreign trade, etc., which extremely enlarges the operation capacities of the enterprise and makes unprecedented leap for the enterprise.

While making progresses in operations, Suzhou Art and Craft Product Shopping Center pays close attention to providing perfect services. The Center takes the lead in making public commitments of "7 Service Standards in Operation" and "Same Convenience in Retum-Change and Purchase" among those of the same trade. They stick to the service principle of "Responsible for, Tilt toward Satisfying Consumers" to meet consumers' satisfaction every day. The special service projects that the Center takes out in the first, such as Baby Cart, Mobile Service Cart of Small Articles and Convenient Goods-delivering, etc, express their genuine feelings from minor matters. Suzhou Art and Craft Product Shopping Center constantly explores and makes progress in the development of market economy, and achieves good social and economic benefits. The Center has won tens of reputations one after another, such as National Operation Service Satisfying Shopping Center, National Youth Civilization Title Honorary Unit, National Commerce Creditable Enterprise, National Top Shopping Environment Commerce Enterprise, National "100-City and 10,000-Shop No-forged Goods Activity" Advanced Unit, Jiangsu Province Civilization Unit, Jiangsu Province Merchandise Quality Trustworthy Enterprise, Jiangsu Province Consumer Satisfied Shopping Center, Model Unit of Jiangsu Province Trade Department Civilization Shopping Center, Outstanding Unit of Jiangshu Province Price and Measurement, Suzhou City Civilization Unit, Suzhou City Consumer Trustworthy Shopping Center, etc. During the period from Jan. to Dec. 1998, the Center's total sales volume was 550,000,000RMB, occupying the top position among Suzhou City Retail Enterprises.
Transportation Conditions : The Center is located at Chayuan Changkou of Guanqian Street in central downtown and the transportation is convenient. No.1, 102, 8, 16, 27, 3, 301, 5 Buses all can take you there.
Shopping Tel : 5112567
Complaining Tel : 5239825

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The Symbol of Suzhou City   Transportation   Shopping and Food

  Information provided by China National Tourism Administration.

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